We don’t have a Christmas tree this year. It’s the first year we have not had one. When we moved, we put all of our Christmas stuff in storage, and since we are still living among boxes it doesn’t make sense to put one up. And because my in laws have a beautiful one right upstairs, the kids don’t seem to even mind that we don’t have one of our own. Grandma has already started putting presents under her tree, but we will wait until the kids go to bed on Christmas eve to put theirs there.

In the meantime, I chose a door in the basement to start hanging our Christmas cards and the very sight of it makes me exceedingly happy. Despite the cold and the considerable darkness, this really is one of my favorite times of the year. How could it not be?

This evening I worked on some presents, addressed Christmas cards, and even baked cookies. I have a short week at work and then a break over the holidays and I am really looking forward to it!

My in laws went out with some friends and family this evening to do some caroling. They invited us to go along, but with the kids we thought it might not be a good idea. After they had left the kids got upset that they didn’t get the chance to go, so we quickly practiced a few simple songs and set out to find people to sing to. We went to six different homes (all people that we know well, and we wouldn’t be afraid to sing in front of) and we sang our collection of Away in the Manger, Silent Night, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. While this was way outside of my comfort zone, I tried not to think too much about it and just did it. After all of our singing we ended our evening with some hot cocoa and bedtime stories. The kids really enjoyed it all and I am sure memories were made they will keep for a lifetime. 🙂

Thank you to anyone we stopped by and visited!

 

Today was a rare day indeed. There are a few days a year that my kids get to visit my work and today was one of them as we enjoyed the office holiday party. The day started off with a scavenger hunt, some coloring, and a hot cocoa bar. It started to snow and sleet outside, so the walk to the restaurant was cold, but when we got there we enjoyed some wonderful food, the most awesome door (see photos), live music (one of my co-workers plays the cello beautifully), and some crafts and games. The kids made friends quickly with the other children and within moments they were dancing onstage to the holiday music.

The highlight of C’s day was that she wrote and directed a short play for everyone to watch. She sat down and wrote a script, then she recruited some of the kids, asked the emcee to announce her play, and then directed the performance. I walked that line of whether or not I should intercede, but I was impressed with her courage so I just watched it unfold. My co-workers were great and very encouraging to her, and it certainly helped that all the kids were adorable. 🙂 I wish I had gotten a video of it.

Big E’s favorite part of the day was dancing on the stage. Who knew he was such a little performer?

And naturally they enjoyed trying all the deserts, making some crafts, and building a gingerbread house. By the time the party was over they were exhausted and Big E fell asleep on the way home, which took two hours because of the weather.

I picked the kids up this evening and they asked to go see the train again, and since we didn’t have anywhere we had to be, we headed straight there. The kids enjoyed pushing the buttons and watching the trains pass by. They were pretty excited to be the only ones there, because they could stand on all the platforms and look in all the windows without being in the way. When we were done we came home for dinner and bedtime.

I’m not exactly sure why, but today was a difficult day and I’m incredibly tired, so I’m heading to bed early. Hopefully a good night’s sleep will set me straight!

We pulled into the driveway close to 9pm this evening. I had taken the kids to their Wednesday night program at church and we were all ready to go inside and head for bed. Since the temperature has dropped dramatically in the past 24 hours, I decided to run to the front door and unlock it before getting the kids out. That way they could make a beeline for the warm house.

I turned off the car and stepped out and that’s when I first heard it. There was a rustling in the woods in front of me. I paused as I listened to it and whatever it was, it sounded large.

Have I ever mentioned that I have an overactive imagination? Did you know it has a field day when my surroundings are dark and quiet?

So, I hear this noise and I immediately think bear. This is ridiculous because we do not live in bear country. We don’t live anywhere near bears. In fact, in all my life I have never actually seen a bear outside of a zoo. But my fear of bears is so great that naturally any loud noise in the dark woods must be a bear. Note to self- It’s NEVER a bear!

It took about .5 seconds for me to shake that hypothesis, so naturally the next logical conclusion was axe wielding murderous madman. Not that we have a lot of those in our area, but it’s actually probably more likely than the bear scenario if I’m honest. The rational side of me (yes, I do actually have one) shrugged off murder man, but the thought of him lurking in the woods kept fluttering through my mind as I hurried to the front door and unlocked it. When I got back to the car, it was quiet.

Great! Murder man has gone radio silent. Crap, he could be anywhere. Wait?! Was that him? Man, whatever it is it sounds large. But then I got to thinking that sounds in the woods are often amplified, and what I might be dealing with is a squirrel out for a late night snack. Now this scenario is even more believable than the bear or murder man, and much safer too.

Yes, it must be a squirrel.

But now I have to know. So I jumped in the car as quickly as I could and turned on the lights, flipping them to the high beams to catch our squirrel in the act.

As my eyes adjusted to the quick flood of light I saw it… not a bear… not a murder man… not even a squirrel.

A deer.

A large dear meandering through the woods munching on leaves and grass.

Of all the scenarios, this one made the most sense. We live in the heart of deer country. Deer everywhere. It should have been my first guess, but clearly my overactive imagination couldn’t bother to settle on the most obvious answer.

I quickly got the kids’ attention and we watched the deer for a few moments wandering around the woods, not twenty feet from the car, eating his dinner and paying us no attention. When he was finally gone we got out of the car and into the warm house.

So tonight was a good night- a night where we didn’t get eaten by bears or chased by a deranged murder man. It was just us sitting in a car staring at a deer chewing some leaves. You’ve got to love a story with a happy ending. 🙂

 

I was treated to some live theatre this evening. Just before bedtime C asked me if she could put on a puppet show. She got finger puppets at Moppets last night and couldn’t wait to put them to use, but I also think the prospect of delaying bedtime was also factored in.

I sat on the couch as she hid herself behind a chair. From there she proceeded to share the Christmas story with her little finger puppets. Parts of her story were up to artistic interpretation, like when Joseph and Mary kissed after finding out Mary was going to have a baby. But all in all, she kept pretty close to the story, which really warmed my heart. We try to teach our children, and we trust other people to teach them as well, but we aren’t always sure how much they are retaining. 🙂

After her performance, we all crawled into bed and I read a ton of stories with them. I’m trying to purpose to do this several times a week, since there are many nights we don’t even get to read because it is too late.

I definitely cherish our cuddly, book reading moments!

“When I walked into your room just now I saw something on your bed. It looked like maybe it was a note. Do you want me to get it for you?” C said with a little smile. She ran to grab the note from my bed that I had just moments before seen her writing in the corner. 

She’s been doing this lately- leaving me notes and telling me about them. This one was an incredibly sweet one.

“I’m sorry I can’t stop saying I love you cause I love you.”

Dear sweet girl, let’s never stop saying it. I’ll tell you every day and you’ll tell me every day for the rest of our lives. Sleep well little bug. 💓💓

Thank  you!

Thank you to my in-laws for opening their home to our little family. We commandeered a good portion of their house, we hijacked their washer and dryer, we elbow each other over the stove, and our children wander up into their area multiple times a day to see their grandparents. Living with my in-laws is such a blessing and I absolutely adore watching my children interact with them. They chase grandpa around the house and he chases them in return. They beg grandma for cookies, and bring her presents of crafts they have made. The first thing out of Baby E’s mouth each morning is, “Where’s grandma?” This transition could have been disastrous for the kids, but instead it has been an adventure. And for that I am truly grateful. 🙂

We are three weeks out from the sale of our townhouse, and the children have adjusted very well. Baby E asks about the townhouse the most and wonders when we will be moving back in, but I explain to him that we live with grandma and grandpa now. He pouts for a moment and then goes back to playing. The one time I drove by the townhouse with the kids, C started to cry, so I haven’t done it again. But overall my kids have been troopers and I count myself blessed that they are handling it so well. 🙂

 

C showed up today at church in the same dress as her cousin. If she had been any age over 13, this might have been a mortifying experience, but when you are seven and one of your favorite people in the whole world is wearing the same dress as you, it’s one of the most awesome things to ever happen to you. I love these girls and how sweet they are with each other. Such a beautiful pair!

I felt a twinge of disappointment this morning when I woke up and there was absolutely no snow on the ground. There wasn’t even anything falling from the skies. The kids were even more downcast because they had worked themselves up for some snowy magic. As the morning wore on, snow started to casually fall from the sky and eventually it was legitimately snowing. The kids begged to go outside, but the first time I sent them out, there wasn’t much accumulation. That didn’t stop them from eating all the snow they could find, or dragging each other in the sled across the grass. They came in with cold fingers and cheeks, and I told them we would try again later.

Thankfully after nap time, there was at least an inch on the ground (I know, I know, that isn’t much, but for my kids it was a winter wonderland.) They got all suited up again and we all went out. I dragged them down hills on the sled. It didn’t take long for C to lose interest so she headed inside, but the boys and I explored some more. And when Baby E abandoned us, Big E still asked to play outside. So he and I built a couple of tiny snowmen and put them on the front porch for the grandparents to enjoy.

When we came in, I made hot cocoa for three very happy children.

Today was really a beautiful day. I enjoyed spending time with my little ones and I loved seeing their smiles. There is something magical about snow, and I’m pretty sure it gets me every time. 🙂

I braced myself for the worst last night when I picked the kids up and C said that she wasn’t feeling well. If you’ve traveled with us for any length of time, you know how much I despise stomach bugs and the thought of being entangled in one made a wave of anxiety flow over me. I had some errands to run, so I knew the kids would be in the car for the next hour at least. I gave C some grocery bags in case she had to throw up, but I worried that our evening would deteriorate quickly.

To my surprise, C and Big E fell asleep within minutes on the road, and got a solid hour nap before waking up. We almost got back to the house when C couldn’t hold out any longer and threw up in her bag. When we got home she went straight to bed. After dinner, I settled the boys into bed and Big E started to complain about his stomach. Uh oh.

We have a couple of twin mattresses propped up against one of the walls in our basement palace, so I put them on the ground to sleep nearer to the kids. When I finally laid down myself, I got hit with a massive pain in my abdomen and an overwhelming nauseous feeling. It lasted for about an hour and half and it was gone. Except for the nasty diaper Baby E gave me this morning, everyone felt much better upon waking up, so it definitely wasn’t as bad as I expected.

I stayed home with the kids, and they watched tv while I spent my time cleaning and rearranging some of our packed things. I still have a lot of work to get done, but I’m making progress.

Tim stayed out at his work last night, and with the prediction of a lot of snow over the next 18 hours, we decided he should stay out there again tonight since he was slated to work on Saturday anyways. I was thinking last night, as we were navigating our stomach bug, that while I never saw my in-laws, it was so nice to know that we weren’t in the house alone. One of the things that I hate when Tim works long hours or stays overnight at work, is being in a house by myself. (I know, the kids are there, but it isn’t the same as having another adult with you.) So it’s been really nice to be here, especially on those nights. 🙂

They say it’s supposed to snow a bunch tonight and tomorrow, so I spent a little while this evening digging through one of our storage units to find the kids’ winter boots. My search was successful, but unfortunately only C’s fit, so we will have to figure something out if we get enough snow to play in.

I love snow, so I really hope this storm doesn’t disappoint!